Using Our Strength

by Zig Ziglar

Some years ago Brenda Reyes was honored as the Texas Business Woman of the Year, a recognition bestowed by the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce. The 9,000-member group annually honors a businesswoman for her financial success, community involvement and professional service.

Ms. Reyes enrolled in the University of New Orleans, then decided to enlist in the Marines. She later returned to finish college. In addition to the many lessons in honor and discipline she learned in the Marine Corps, her tour gave her the incentive to search for and capitalize on her strengths.

After college, she recognized her aptitude for computers, so in her spare time she set up computer systems for friends who had lost patience with the process. At first she volunteered to help others, but soon she realized she could turn her knowledge into a career. She opened her first software development business in 1986 in her hometown of New Orleans and later moved her company (Innovative Computer Group) to Dallas.

She has faced some tough situations and some hard-core Marines…. She has kept pace with all of the technological changes, she has courageously moved to expand her business, and the results are obvious by her recognition as Texas Business Woman of the Year.

Brenda Reyes has set a good example and taught all of us a lesson in using what we have to its greatest advantage.

—Zig Ziglar